Male suicide and premature death are a hidden crisis that hits hardest in blue-collar Britain, in proud but deprived areas like the one I represent in north Liverpool where too many people have lost hope for themselves and their communities. Three out of every five working men who kill themselves are in manual jobs, the largest number in construction and similar trades where more than 600 lives are lost every year. Suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50. I am part of a group in Parliament called Blue Labour which believes the government must put dignity, our relationships and community at the heart of its promise of national renewal if it is to reconnect with its traditional supporters who feel abandoned by politics and Westminster.
This means providing secure working-class jobs, enabling civic society to flourish once again and reviving high streets and local services of course – but it also means drilling down into the causes of suicide and needless premature death if we are to restore a politics of common purpose, of security and solidarity.
For that reason, I am delighted that the Health Secretary Wes Streeting has pledged to introduce the first Men’s Health Strategy for England by the end of this year, that he recognised we must act on worsening mental ill health and to catch preventable killer diseases in time.
Now is the time to make good on that promise, to invest properly in training healthcare professionals to detect men’s mental health problems better and in skilled response mechanisms to reduce the risk of suicide, for example.
It must also mean a dramatic expansion in male uptake of the NHS Health Check – to detect deadly but treatable conditions such as heart disease and diabetes – which requires making them available in the workplace, where they are most likely to be taken up.
We know men prioritise their work as a goal in itself, crowding out health concerns and visits to the doctor. By bringing NHS checks to construction, manufacturing and other blue-collar workplaces we can prevent many of the men most at risk from an early death from falling through the cracks.
Research by men’s health charity Movember suggests increasing uptake of NHS Health Checks to 75% of men from the shockingly low figure of just 38% could save £1 billion in direct healthcare bills and a further £2 billion in indirect costs.
The strategy must address the alarming health gap between rich and poor areas, by directing resources at places such as my Walton constituency where men are at greatest risk of dying young.
And it must tackle a catastrophic rise in deaths caused entirely by excessive alcohol. Booze alone killed 8,200 people in 2023 – a 42% rise on just four years earlier – and the North East overtook Scotland as the UK’s blackspot.
The recent 10-Year Plan for the NHS contained welcome measures on alcohol labelling and advice – but addiction is a key cause of physical and mental ill health for men in communities like mine, and there is so much more we must do.
This summer I marked 6 years of sobriety. Being in recovery from alcoholism is a blessing and helping other addicts do the same is a privilege and a great purpose. Modern life prioritises the individual and drives consumption culture and addictive behaviours; it has diminished so much that is precious – our relationships, our time, our faith and our duty to those around us.
Much of what affects men’s health, in Britain’s poorest neighbourhoods and beyond, cannot simply be prescribed away. My experience taught me that intervention, support, human connection and hope, as well as a big dose of will power, were key. By promising a Men’s Health Strategy, this government has created a one-off opportunity for meaningful change. Now they must grasp it.
Dan Carden is MP for Liverpool Walton and a Blue Labour member